Covered federal government contractors must certify whether they meet their requirement to develop and maintain annual Affirmative Action Plans (AAPs) in the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Contractor Portal.
Registration for the Contractor Portal is now open to federal contractors and will allow them to validate their company information in the platform. Once registered, government contractors need to certify whether they are AAP compliant between March 31, 2022, and June 30, 2022, and thereafter on an annual basis.
Covered contractors that must begin to use the Contractor Portal include supply and service (non-construction) federal contractors and subcontractors who meet certain jurisdiction thresholds.
Generally, federal contractors that have 50 or more employees and hold a federal contract of $50,000 or more are required to create and maintain AAPs pursuant to Executive Order 11246 and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In addition, if a government contractor has 50 or more employees and a federal contract of $150,000 or more, then it must also create and maintain an AAP pursuant to the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.
Once a covered contractor has been awarded a qualifying government contract, it must develop its AAPs within 120 days of the commencement of the government contract. Going forward, contractors that newly meet the threshold requirements have 120 days to develop their AAPs and must then register and certify compliance within 90 days of creating their AAPs through the Contractor Portal.
OFCCP may use the Contractor Portal to facilitate compliance evaluations, including using it as a platform for a company to upload its AAPs during an OFCCP compliance evaluation.
Fluet is available to assist its clients with any questions related to compliance with AAP requirements and its government contracts.
Note: The information contained on this page does not constitute legal advice, and reading the information does not automatically start an attorney-client relationship. The details are meant to serve as general information, and are not comprehensive of all legal requirements or situations.
About the Authors
Marlena Ewald is a Partner with Fluet who has a variety of experience counseling government contractors on corporate, transactional, and regulatory matters.
Kelly Carlson is an Associate with Fluet who specializes in advising companies on government contracting, contractor-sub-contractor relations, and general corporate matters.
